Bulldozers, dump trucks, cranes, concrete mixers and concrete pump trucks are operating at Taleghan 2, according to satellite imagery taken by Vantor Technologies on 13 September 2026. The site sits inside Iran’s Parchin military complex, approximately 30 kilometers southeast of Tehran.
The images show a large tarpaulin covering the remains of the hardened underground facility, blocking satellite and aerial views of the work below. Iran has repaired the three penetration holes made by Israeli bunker-buster weapons and placed concrete covers over them, while building new concrete reinforcements intended to provide greater protection from explosions caused by potential airstrikes.
The renewed construction is the latest stage in a cycle of destruction and rebuilding at a site Israeli officials say was used for nuclear weapons development.
Taleghan 2 was part of Iran’s secret AMAD programme, which Western intelligence agencies believe sought the ability to build a nuclear weapon in the early 2000s. The International Atomic Energy Agency and US intelligence say Iran shut the programme in 2003.
The site is believed to have contained a specially designed chamber for high-explosive experiments relevant to developing a nuclear warhead. Iran denies pursuing nuclear weapons.
Israel destroyed the Taleghan 2 building during air strikes on Iran in October 2024.
Iran began rebuilding it in May 2025, using a reinforced steel frame, a concrete shell and earth covering for a more fortified structure. During that work, satellite imagery appeared to show a large cylindrical structure being installed inside the building. Analysts assessed that it may have been a high-explosive containment vessel.
Israel struck the site again in March 2026. High-resolution imagery after the attack showed three large holes made by bunker-busting weapons directly above the area where the suspected containment vessel had been located.
Repair work began in June 2026 and initially focused on those holes. Taleghan 2 is deeply buried and fortified within Parchin, and was designed to withstand aerial bombardment.
The Institute for Science and International Security published a report containing satellite images of the site struck in March 2026. It said the new activity could indicate ‘an effort by Iran to reestablish a nuclear weapons development capability and to reconstitute what was lost in the attack on the compound.’
The institute said the rebuilding was Iran’s second attempt to restore the facility in less than two years. The imagery establishes that substantial work is under way, though it does not reveal what is being built under the tarpaulin or Iran’s intended use for the site.
The reconstruction comes as international monitoring has sharply diminished. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said inspectors have conducted almost no in-field verification in Iran for more than six months. The agency has also been unable to maintain continuity of knowledge over previously declared enriched uranium stocks at facilities affected by military strikes.
Before it lost access, the agency estimated that Iran held 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to as much as 60% purity.
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